


push the seat back and close my eyes (afraid to fly)

by dracometria



Series: sookai a/b/o-lite [5]
Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alpha Choi Soobin, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Omega Huening Kai, Omega Verse, Soft Choi Soobin, shrimp reverse uno, soft, sookai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:40:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23755516
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dracometria/pseuds/dracometria
Summary: Soobin's seatmate on the plane has a fear of flying, so he helps out by holding his hand.
Relationships: Choi Soobin/Huening Kai
Series: sookai a/b/o-lite [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1647610
Comments: 37
Kudos: 236





	push the seat back and close my eyes (afraid to fly)

**Author's Note:**

> the middle and ending has changed numerous times and i was supposed to finish this way earlier than i did, but here it is ㅜㅜ

Soobin is almost late for his flight; he’s so relieved that he even makes it onto the plane that he doesn’t notice his seatmate until he _smells_ him. The scent of strawberry milk is so heavy he can almost taste it, though it’s tinged faintly with distress. With the way his alpha instincts are firing up and screaming at him to help, he can safely assume that his new seatmate is an omega. 

Soobin regrets turning to look, because he falls in love in approximately two seconds flat. 

The omega in question is almost drowning in an oversized light blue hoodie. His eyes are squeezed shut, and he seems to be practicing but failing whatever breathing exercise he’s trying to do. He has impossibly long lashes, plush lips, and locks of curly black hair that peek out from his hood. His features are delicate, if a bit unique. Soobin can’t exactly place his ethnicity—he looks mixed. 

The scent the omega is giving off is absolutely mouthwatering, and if he doesn’t calm down, he’s about to have every unmated alpha in the plane scrambling to assist him in a few minutes. 

_“Excuse me?”_ Soobin tries in English. He’s not exactly fluent, but he at least knew enough to get him through his vacation in the States. _“Are you okay?”_

The omega opens his eyes, and _oh,_ he’s so pretty that Soobin’s heart skips a beat. His eyes widen when he looks at Soobin—the alpha wouldn’t be surprised if he’d just noticed him. His nose scrunches the tiniest bit as he scents the air; Soobin doesn’t miss the way he bites his lip after, and neither do his alpha instincts. The omega seems to have assessed him favorably.

 _“I’m scared of flying,”_ he finally says sheepishly. _“Sorry if I’m bothering you.”_

Soobin shakes his head. _“It’s no problem. Is there anything I can do to help?”_

The omega seems uncertain until he catches the eye of the alpha sitting across from them, who seems ready to come over. _“Ah...can you hold my hand when we take off then?”_

Soobin tilts his head in confusion. He recognized some of the words that the omega said, but they were spoken a little too fast for him to understand fully. _“I’m sorry, can you say that one more time? English is not my first language.”_

 _“Oh.”_ The omega seems to debate with himself before reaching out for Soobin’s hand. _“Hold my hand, when the airplane takes off?”_ he says slowly, gesturing upwards with his free arm. His cheeks are tinted pink. 

_“Oh! Yes,”_ Soobin nods, _“Of course that’s okay.”_ He pats Kai’s hand in understanding before letting go. _“What is your name?”_

_“Kai. What’s yours?”_

_“Hello Kai, I’m Soobin.”_

_“Soobin?”_ Kai’s eyes light up. “Wait, are you Korean?” 

“I am,” Soobin says, pleasantly surprised. “I didn’t know you were too. Ah, I could have saved myself the embarrassment,” he mumbles. 

“It’s okay, you wouldn’t have known,” Kai says, patting him on the shoulder. “I need to practice my Korean anyway. I only speak it with my mother and it’s been a while since I’ve seen her.” 

“It’s definitely a lot better than my English.” Soobin chuckles. As they converse, Soobin finds that Kai’s Korean is pleasant, even if he uses a word oddly here and there. He has the slightest trace of an accent; the alpha finds it rather cute. Kai talks about summers in Korea and how he’s going there to start university, and Soobin describes his vacation in Las Vegas (exciting, mostly) and how lame his friends Beomgyu and Taehyun are for leaving early. 

Before long, the stewardess finishes her presentation. Soobin had easily distracted Kai through the safety instructions, but the omega immediately tenses up when the indicator for seat belts light up. 

“Hey,” Soobin says softly, reaching over for Kai’s hand. The omega quickly intertwines their fingers and squeezes. It’s a bit awkward with the armrest between them, so Soobin lifts it up. “It’ll be fine. Do you want me to pull the shades down?” Kai nods, his eyes shut tight, and Soobin leans over to pull them down, obscuring the window. 

Kai’s hand is so _small_ in his. He rubs his thumb soothingly across the soft skin. After a moment’s hesitation, he nudges him until the omega’s head rests against his shoulder. Kai automatically nestles closer until his head is buried in Soobin’s chest, and Soobin adjusts their position until they’re both comfortable. 

It feels natural.

‘You’re such a baby about this,” Soobin teases. Kai had slid off his hood sometime earlier, so now the alpha has the chance to card his fingers through the omega’s dark curls. It’s both a good and bad idea—good, because it seems to calm Kai down somewhat, and bad, because now Soobin doesn’t really want to stop petting his hair when Kai is humming in appreciation. He swallows and tries to remember some breathing techniques of his own—Kai’s alluring scent has intensified since they’re so close, and Soobin is _struggling._

“When I find your weakness, I’ll never stop making fun of you,” Kai grumbles against his chest.

_Well at this point, my weakness is you._

Soobin thanks whoever’s listening up there that he manages not to say that out loud.

“Sure, kitten.”

Soobin blinks—once, twice before he realizes what he’d just said. Silence stretches between them, but the plane levels off soon after. Kai sits up, face flush with color.

“Thanks, _alpha,_ ” he mumbles as he lets go of Soobin, only to cover his mouth immediately. “I mean, Soobin-ssi,” he squeaks, but the damage has already been done.

“Cute.” Soobin smirks. “Hyung is fine, by the way.”

“Oh, um...you can call me Ning Ning, Hueka, whatever. I have a lot of nicknames.” The omega’s cheeks are still rosy; he looks adorable—and delectable. He pouts as he sinks back into his seat, hoodie easily swallowing him up again. “I’m going to try to sleep for thirteen hours so when I wake up, it’ll all be over.” 

“Good luck.” Soobin chuckles, pulling out a book he’d bought specifically to pass the time. 

With Kai asleep, it’s easier to ignore his scent. That is until Soobin gets thirty-odd pages into his book and he feels the omega’s head loll against his shoulder, bringing a fresh wave of strawberry milk. 

Soobin has never encountered a scent that’s affected him so much before; he’s met a few omegas in the past, and while their scents were always pleasant, enticing even, he never felt the urge to want to mark them. 

_Kai,_ though—Kai’s scent makes Soobin want to claim him and press kisses all over his pretty neck and hands, makes him want to kiss the omega breathless, makes him _want_ —

Soobin feels his cheeks heat up with guilt at the inappropriate thoughts, and he tries to relax before he wakes up Kai by accident. He reads the same page at least eight times before he gives up and sets the book down. It’s dim in the plane since the sun has set, but he takes out his phone to snap a quick selca to post later. Kai is visible in the photo on closer inspection, and Soobin wonders how it’s possible for someone to look so angelic when asleep. He’s thinking about deleting it since he didn’t mean to get Kai in the frame when the omega in question stirs.

“Is it tomorrow yet,” Kai asks sleepily, and Soobin quickly locks his phone.

“No, go back to sleep,” Soobin murmurs affectionately, softly petting the omega’s head. Kai makes a pleased sort of noise as he snuggles closer. _Too cute,_ Soobin internally cooes.

Kai has the right idea. Sleep sounds good.

* * *

Soobin is woken up by the apologetic beta stewardess tapping on his shoulder to give him a menu. Soobin perks up immediately when he sees that she has the meal cart with her. 

“Option A please,” he says, handing the menu back to her. He’s not sure whether or not he should wake up Kai when the stewardess answers that for him.

“The same for your mate?”

Soobin is so flustered that he just says the first thing that comes to mind. “Yes please. Thank you.” 

She beams as she passes the trays to him. “You two are so adorable. Let me know if you need anything else.” 

Soobin doesn’t know what to say, so he just thanks her again. He hopes Kai likes seafood. 

He’s almost halfway through his meal when Kai wakes up.

“This is the weirdest ASMR experience ever,” he says groggily, rubbing his eyes. 

“Sorry, was I being too loud?” He covers his mouth self-consciously.

The omega shakes his head. “Is that shrimp? I love shrimp.” He lazily stretches before sitting up in his seat.

“That’s good,” Soobin says with relief. “The stewardess thought we were mates, so I kind of just panicked and said yes when she asked if you wanted the same thing.” 

The omega almost drops the lid of his tray. “M-Mates?

Soobin smiles wryly. “Do you just sleep on any stranger’s shoulder?”

“Not every stranger smells as good as you,” Kai says nonchalantly, and Soobin almost chokes mid-swallow. As if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb, the omega flutters his lashes and continues, “Well, now that you’re my mate, aren’t you going to peel my shrimp for me, _alpha?_ ” 

“...Are you flirting with me just so I’ll peel your shrimp?”

Kai is the picture of innocence, feigning hurt with a hand placed over his heart. “I would never.”

Soobin rolls his eyes but obliges since he’s in the middle of peeling his own anyway. “Would you like me to feed you as well, baby?” 

“Yes,” Kai says unexpectedly, but when Soobin looks at him in surprise, he blushes and tries to sink into his hoodie. “Kidding, kidding.”

“I’m not.” Soobin smirks as he dips the peeled shrimp in the sauce. 

“Ah, hyung, really?” Kai whines.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have teased,” Soobin says archly. “Open up.”

“You’re not even using chopsticks,” Kai squeaks. 

“They’ll just get dirty.” 

Kai only has himself to blame. He obediently opens his mouth, a furious blush painting his cheeks as Soobin feeds him delicately, the both of them freezing when Kai’s tongue catches the tip of the alpha’s finger. 

“Aren’t you two the cutest,” the stewardess comments cheerfully as she passes by their aisle, causing the two to jump and pull back from each other. 

“You don’t have to peel anymore,” Kai says after he finishes chewing, looking embarrassed.

Soobin sighs. “There’s no point in stopping now.” He nudges Kai with an elbow. “Eat before it gets cold.” 

“Mmkay...” Kai breaks his chopsticks, seeming to gather his courage before turning around and winking. “You seem to have fallen for my charms.” 

Soobin doesn’t even know what to say to that, so he just chuckles helplessly. “If you say so.” The probability of that is high, though.

Kai smiles cheekily before launching into a story about his escapades at his old music academy, and they fall into easy conversation like before. It helps that they have more in common than they expected, from music taste to shared hobbies like singing, dancing, and video gaming. It’s the most Soobin has ever enjoyed his time on an airplane, and that’s saying a lot between the cramped leg space, bland airline meals, and utter boredom.

The hours quickly melt away in the night, and at this rate Soobin thinks he’s well on the way to staying awake for the rest of the flight, just to talk with Kai. 

Well, they’re not exactly _just_ talking. The armrest between them stays up, and occasionally their fingers brush together, or Kai would rest his head against his shoulder which of course would prompt Soobin to play with his hair, and sometimes their hands linger too long on each other’s arm. It’s a delicate dance that neither of them acknowledge.

That is, until the seat belt sign lights up and they’re notified that they’d be experiencing turbulence imminently. Kai looks like he’s on the edge of panicking as he fumbles with his seat belt. 

“Hueningie,” Soobin says softly, cupping Kai’s cheek and tilting the omega’s face towards him. Kai’s biting his bottom lip nervously. “Relax, okay? It’ll just be a little bumpy.” He leans over to finish buckling the younger's seat belt before fastening his own. He wraps his hand around Kai’s smaller one, noticing the tremble immediately when the plane hits the first snag and dips slightly. Kai clenches his fingers tightly as the plane continues to bounce at intervals, and Soobin starts to smell distress tinge Kai’s strawberry sweet scent. He feels a wave of sudden protectiveness, but he doesn’t bother to ruminate if it’s just because of his alpha instincts before pulling the omega close to him. 

Kai whines when Soobin lets go of his hand, but the alpha placates him with a kiss to the forehead while adjusting them into a position reminiscent of their takeoff one. Soobin’s free hand is soon occupied again, the omega’s smaller fingers holding on tightly.

“Soobinie-hyung,” Kai says in a tiny voice, “Can I…?” 

Soobin nods quickly—it doesn’t matter what Kai’s asking for, he’d give it to him. So when the omega nuzzles against his neck and inhales tentatively, Soobin only freaks out a _little._ Kai seems to be taking care not to mark him, but his lips are still dangerously close. 

“You smell really good,” Kai murmurs, his breath ticklish against his neck, “Your scent is really calming.” 

“People have told me that before,” Soobin manages to say, sounding somewhat strangled, his hands itching to be in Kai’s hair or to be at the small of his back to press him closer or to cup the side of his face, bringing him in closer until he—

Kai pauses as if sensing his thoughts (or more realistically, feeling the way he tensed up), looking up to peer at Soobin through his lashes. “Hyung?” 

“Do you know how irresistable you smell,” Soobin says finally in a hushed voice, chancing a glance at the omega, and _oh,_ it’s such a mistake because Kai looks so inviting, eyes dilated and lips slightly parted and most importantly, startlingly close—only inches away. 

“You’re doing a pretty good job of resisting me,” Kai says with a trace of a pout, his cheeks dusted pink.

“Thanks?” Soobin says, breath hitching when the omega lets go of his hand to clench his shirt instead. 

“Maybe you should—” 

He doesn’t quite get to finish his sentence, because the plane bobs slightly and closes the meager distance together for them. Their lips crash together and it hurts for a few brief moments; neither of them pull away. 

“I thought it’d go better than that,” Kai breathes as he fists Soobin’s shirtfront to tug him closer, and Soobin doesn’t need further prompting—he cups Kai’s cheek and finally kisses him, lips slotting together much more smoothly than the first time. Soobin keeps it slow, keeps it soft, because they’re thirty thousand feet in the air flying through turbulence, and he wants to be able to stabilize Kai whenever the plane shudders. 

Kai seems to have other ideas as he nibbles on Soobin’s lower lip, and Soobin has to think a little (not that the omega is making it easy _at all_ ) before parting his lips for him, and Kai manages to be gentle and demanding all at once, slowly raising the intensity of the kiss even as the plane occasionally jostles them around; their lips would just find each other again anyway. 

Soobin sighs against Kai and gives in, winding his hand in the omega’s curly hair and pulling lightly, pleased at how Kai immediately shivers and clings even closer. 

“Needy,” he whispers.

“For you,” Kai says back breathlessly, and there’s not much talking after that, and if Soobin continues kissing Kai senseless even after the turbulence ends, that’s nobody’s business. 

* * *

Soobin’s hand is secure around Kai’s as the plane starts to touch down. 

“This is my favorite part,” the omega says giddily as he looks out the window. 

“Makes sense.” Soobin yawns, eyes absentmindedly tracing the outline of Kai against the window. He looks like he’s meant to be framed by sunlight. 

They’d already exchanged numbers, agreeing to meet up sometime soon since it seemed that they were going to be in the same general area. It doesn’t mean Soobin isn’t going to miss him. He feels both unease and wonder that he that he’d bonded so closely with a stranger, but when Kai glances back and grins at him, Soobin feels all the more that it was meant to be. 

“I’ll wait with you until your ride gets here,” Soobin says as he presses a final kiss to Kai’s forehead, causing the omega to blush. 

“I miss you already,” he says shyly. 

“I’m still here though?” Soobin chuckles and hugs Kai tightly— _he’s too adorable._

“Soobinie-hyung.” Kai pushes against his chest. “I think I see my friend.” Soobin reluctantly lets him go, watching fondly as Kai jumps and waves his hands. “Daniel!” Soobin turns curiously, mouth running dry when he sees his roommate in the crowd, his vibrant blue hair impossible to miss. 

_Didn’t Yeonjun say that he had a friend to pick up today at the airport?_ That was the only reason why Soobin had to call a taxi instead. 

“Daniel?” Soobin chokes out, instantly recalling Yeonjun’s English name. 

“I think his Korean name is Choi Yeonjun?” Kai says, unaware of the colossal web of coincidences they’ve landed in. 

“You’re heading to the Yongsan District, right? Arcadia University?” 

“Yeah,” Kai answers, looking up at Soobin in surprise. “How did you know?”

Fate really was funny sometimes. 

“You’re about to find out,” Soobin says amusedly, raising his hand to wave at Yeonjun.

**Author's Note:**

> [twt](https://twitter.com/yourcutiekai) & [ask](https://curiouscat.me/dracometria) >3<♡
> 
> i'm not sure why it took me so long! a week i think,,,i was contemplating keeping it in the drafts because i'm unhappy with it ㅠㅠ but oh well, i've already worked on it ; ; 
> 
> sookai vlive today made me so soft, their bond is so precious ㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ


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